Dungeon Crawl/Traps issues...

[TracerBullet42]

I was just reading through some of the World's Largest Dungeon thread, and I saw a few complaints about too many traps...

Does anybody else find traps in dungeons just slow things down too much? I mean, I understand that it gives the rogue a "chance to shine," but really, it just bogs down the game.

Nothing worse than stepping into a dungeon with a doors everywhere, and traps on all of them. It just slows things down too much.

Thoughts?

 

[diaglo]

they make sense.

wouldn't you defend your home?

or wouldn't you want to protect your burial ground from grave robbers?

they don't slow things down when you have a bunch of people working together.

 

[Scarbonac]

How exciting would the dungeon-crawls in the Indiana Jones movies have been without traps?

I love traps, as a player and a DM. Defeating them makes me happy; cooking them up to keep my players from becoming complacent makes me ecstatic.

 

[Stormborn]

Traps as a concept don't bother me. Traps in an area that intelligent creatures are supposed to be living in and passing through regularly do. Typically when someone puts traps in their own home to protect them selvels, they wind up killed by those traps. Traps make sense in certain contexts, but not always.

 

[The_Gneech]

I like funky puzzle traps; I don't particularly care for random doors having poison needles.

-The Gneech

 

[TracerBullet42]

they make sense.

wouldn't you defend your home?

or wouldn't you want to protect your burial ground from grave robbers?

they don't slow things down when you have a bunch of people working together.

I understand that they make sense for home/hoard/whatever defense. What I do not like it the the way dungeon crawls (I suppose that's why they're called "crawls") slow down so the rogue can search every square inch for random poison needle traps.

I suppose what I was getting at with this thread is...do you think that there are better ways to handle the mechanics of dealing with traps? It kills the mood for me when the rogue spends so much time searching...

Instead of actively searching for traps, perhaps rogues get a "secret" roll when near traps or something, like elves get with secret doors...

Something like that.

I guess what I was saying is that I don't like trap mechanics...what would be some better ways to work with them?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I understand exactly what you are talking about. Our first 3.0 advennture featured a dungeon with concealed pit traps left and right. Nobody was willing to take a step without first checking the next section of floor. It took forever to explore and as a result became so disjointed nobody remembered why we were there in the first place.

Personally I use traps only if they are logical in their placement. Traps guard important areas where access needs to be restricted, or sometimes when they are on a decoy path (the treause MUST be behind that golden door, forget that wood one on the other side, its probably just a sleeping chamber). If it is an area that is accessed regularly by the inhabitants, then there must be some way of bypassing it other than completely disarming it each time.

I have also house ruled that concealed pit traps are exactly like secret doors and have a chance at being detected in the same ways.

 

[Hjorimir]

I love traps! They are a staple of Dungeons & Dragons! That being said, they should absolutely make sense in their placement. As a DM I generally limit them to treasure rooms or chests and a few special doors. But it doesn’t make sense to have traps in high traffic areas where the inhabitants may hurt themselves. On the other hand, crypts and tombs are a great place for crazy traps as nothing is supposed to be moving around anyway…besides, incorporeal undead don’t set off too many traps.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I think you need to look at how you handle traps in your campaign, especially if you have a rogue that has spent a lot of effort on being able to find and remove them. It's kinda unfair to lessen the role of traps if someone has put the focus into being able to bypass them.

First off, you shouldn't be rolling Search checks for every 5' square the party enters. That's nuts and a definite waste of time. Instead, have the character in question tell you when they want to start searching and where. Then, when the character comes across a trap, have them make a Search roll. Set it up so that a failed check results in the trap being set off (so that the player won't be tipped off that a trip is present and then stop in his/her tracks to avoid setting it off). Make sure that there is a downside to searching constantly (e.g. increased chance of wandering monsters), otherwise players will just tell you they're always searching. The same method works for secret doors. Only roll when there is something to be found, and then only if the player as told you they are searching.

In our game, traps don't slow the game down at all. Sometimes a player will state they are constantly searching, but then they realize how much time that is eating up and they stop. A good trap designer will have some reason that prevents people from meticulously searching for traps as they advance (e.g. wandering monsters, a time limit, random traps, etc.).

A key to setting traps is to maintain an element of surprise. If every door is trapped, then people quickly figure this out and the trap loses its effectiveness. So traps should be scattered and unexpected. Different traps, in different areas, with different effects will keep a party on their toes.

And, as some posters have already mentioned, setting traps everywhere is a surefire way for the trapsetters to get themselves killed. Of course, that could be an adventure in itself: the party comes across a dungeon's owners, killed by their own traps. Now the dungeon is "active" and the party must defeat the traps to get to their objective.

 

[jmucchiello]

I like funky puzzle traps; I don't particularly care for random doors having poison needles.

Depending on what you mean by puzzle traps, I may agree. I don't mind the six levers, in a certain position is safe, otherwise boom. I do mind riddle in the dungeon. If I were guarding something behind a dozen doors, I wouldn't put up a riddle that would let you get past the doors safely. I'd be more likely to put up a riddle that guarenteed death.